All six competitors announced for Elimination Chamber match

Randy Orton gets his chance at the Elimination Chamber as a former World Champion.

Over the past couple of weeks, Smackdown General Manager Booker T has made it clear that the Elimination Chamber match at the pay-per-view of the same name will not only determine a new number-one contender for the World Championship (who will get his championship match at Wrestlemania 29), but will also only feature former World Champions.

Two weeks ago, he made the announcements that the former champions in the company would need to impress him, as there are only six slots available. Well, after this past Monday night on RAW, we now know all six of those names, and they are Randy Orton, Jack Swagger, Chris Jericho, Mark Henry and both members of Team Hell No!, Kane and Daniel Bryan.

Out of the six men, only two have ever actually won the entire match. Chris Jericho won in 2010, winning the World Championship from the Undertaker. Last year, Daniel Bryan retained his World Championship successfully in the Chamber. Of the six, Jericho has the most experience, with this being his eighth appearance in this kind of a match, and he was also a part of the first one, back in 2002.

Former champions Mark Henry and Jack Swagger will both be making their debuts in the match. It’s surprising that Henry has never been a part of the match when you consider that he has the second-most amount of total time with the company, entering his 17th year with the WWE (the first is Kane who, along with several gimmick changes, has been with the company for 18 years).

Henry and Swagger are also making their debuts in the match after a long hiatus. Henry has been out of action since May last year, facing what were potential career-ending injuries. He made his return a couple of weeks ago, looking very healthy, and has even shed a few pounds.

Swagger’s return was even more shocking, especially when many believed he had been released from the company last year. Swagger has been on a hiatus from the WWE since September 2012 for unknown reasons. Swagger has been dominant since his return, dropping the comedy aspect from his gimmick. He is also joined by Zeb Coulter, aka journeyman wrestler Dutch Mantell. Mantell was last seen in TNA as one of the head writers, and hasn’t been seen in WWE since the mid 1990s, managing The Blu Brothers (Ron and Don Harris) and Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw, known better to today’s fans as Smackdown color commentator JBL.